13 Quick Facts on 13 Christian Cults and Sects

Thursday, July 9th, 2009 | Cult, Doctrine

Thought I forgot about this series, eh? Nope. Just let her simmer on the back burner.

Anyway, I still want to round her out with 13 posts.

So, I thought now would be a good time to pull all the articles out there into one tidy, little post…

And show you what’s on the horizon.

And just so you know, the point behind this series: Intellectual pleasure. Satisfaction. An odd curiosity?

See, until I started this series I knew very little about the differences between cults like Scientology or sects like Fundamentalism.

So, it’s good ground to cover.

Anyway, here’s where we’re at and where we’re going. Hope you’ll stay along for the ride.

Intro: Revising the American Religion Most of what you know as American Christianity is scarcely Christian in any traditional way.

Unitarians Secrets on Unitarianism–from what they think of the Trinity to famous Unitarians.

Rosicrucian File this under controversial. Conspiratorial. Bizarre. Trivial. Wherever you file it, know this: This is serious stuff some people lock-in on.

Fundamentalism Take a peek at this North American phenomenon.

Pentecostals Want to know who the 13 most famous Pentecostals of all time are? Read on.

Seventh-Day Adventists Why they observe Saturday as Sabbath and their connection to David Koresh.

Theosophy Their original purpose was to investigate, study and explain mediums and their claims. It’s changed a tad since 1875.

Scientology Quite likely the most ruthless, terroristic, litigious and lucrative cult the country has ever seen. [Good comments on this one.]

Spiritism 13 disturbing facts about this ancient religion.

Swedenborgians Founded in the 18th century after rationalist and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, this cult enjoys a small, but exotic following.

World Wide Church of God Normally, cults crop up and just got creepier. The Worldwide Church of God, on the other hand, took a shocking turn for the better.

Mormons List of 13 must-read websites dedicated to exposing the differences between Mormonism and orthodox Christianity.

Jehovah’s Witnesses Thirteen key doctrines clothing store owner Charles Taze Russell taught through his religious society know as Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Christian Science [Before the end of the year. Maybe September. Could be sooner. You never know with me.]

Related posts:

  1. 13 Quick Facts about Christian Fundamentalism
  2. Rosicrucians: 13 Facts about This Obscure Christian Cult
  3. 13 Quick Facts about Seventh-day Adventists

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6 Comments to 13 Quick Facts on 13 Christian Cults and Sects

Rudy
July 9, 2009

Is the “Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints” considered a cult?

James
July 9, 2009

Rudy,
I think cult is a bit of a slippery word. It seems to have a variety of connotations and meanings.

Who is classified as a cult depends on who you ask, I doubt LDS people consider themselves a cult. I also think that once you get enough members you can’t be considered a cult, you become a mainstream religion e.g. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism.

Demian Farnworth
July 10, 2009

Rudy: Hell yeah. [Spoken like a true mainstream Christian, right James? :-) ]

Seriously though, LDS are the same as Mormons, so yes, cult.

James
July 10, 2009

Demian: indeed :-)

If size is not the deciding factor then I think the Jews have every right to classify any brand of Christianity a cult, since it’s an offshoot of their religion and heresy in their eyes.

Rudy
July 10, 2009

James, I thought about the same thing too. If there are enough members numbered in millions, then it’s considered a “religion”.

A lot of others I talked to said the same thing.

It reminds me of an episode of Babylon 5 where an spiritual alien asked Captain Sheridan for earth’s representatives. He introduced them to at least 100 people of different religious backgrounds.

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